CNET's mega touchscreen showdown
Choosing a touchscreen smartphone is getting more and more difficult, with fierce competition delivering excellent new features to the super desirable handsets. Which phone will stand out as the best touchscreen smartphone?
Choosing a touchscreen smartphone is getting more and more difficult. A year ago you could buy an iPhone and feel safe in the knowledge that you were buying the best touchscreen available. But can the same be said now?
Aside from what a phone looks like and how easy it is to use when making calls or sending messages, there is a growing range of different functions you'll want to consider before jumping in and buying one or the other. Do you plan to use the phone for business? Will you use it regularly to watch videos or take photos of your friends?
Stepping into the ring for this touchscreen showdown are four of the most interesting touchscreen smartphones of 2009, including one yet-to-be released handset, the HTC Hero. We've broken this contest into three rounds, a review of the hardware, a look at media support, and a final round that breaks down applications, web browsing, social networking and business productivity.
Hardware
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(headset support only) V.2.0 with A2DP V.2.0 with A2DP V.2.0 with A2DP USB Proprietary connection Micro USB Micro USB Mini USB
Even a quick scan of the table above shows these smartphones are very evenly matched. There are a few differences in processor speed and RAM, and some slight variations in screen size, but overall these are phones with similar connectivity options and external sockets.
We've given a point to the phone with the best specification in each of the rows, or multiple points where phones had matching specs.
Multimedia
The word that sums up the rise of the smartphone is convergence; the concept of bringing multiple purposes into a single device. Arguably, the most popular dual-role for a smartphone is that of a personal media player, and the large screen size of the four touchscreens in the showdown make them all perfect for the tasks. But it takes more than a large screen to make a capable media player, audio and video files recognition is essential and the ability to share media with other devices is a huge plus.
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The iPhone is known for the simplicity of its Cover Flow-style media menus, but in terms of functionality the Samsung HD Icon is leagues ahead (and has a similar visual media menu as well). Nokia's N97 doesn't do too badly, and though it isn't listed explicitly above, it will play more media file types than both the iPhone and the Hero. The HTC is also left behind in media sharing, another area the HD Icon streaks ahead.
Applications
Apple's App Store
(Credit: Apple)
Applications are 2009's hot button topic and no showdown would be complete without some analysis of what extras are available for your brand new smartphone. For some, this will be the deciding factor in the purchase of a new smartphone.
Apple's App Store is easily the market leader in this department, with 65,000-plus applications available and an average app spend of only approximately AU$2.50. Apple's catchphrase is "there's an app for just about everything", and while we hate marketing speak as much as the next respectable tech publication, this happens to be true. Whether you want a cookbook app, a meditation app, an app that tracks your mobile phone use, or an app that tells you the best time to pee during a movie, you'll find all of these on the App Store.
Google's Android Market, available on the HTC Hero, is, in our humble opinion, second best of the bunch. The range of apps is more limited, but you can still find a range of really useful tools and mostly for free or for a very small price. The Android Market needs a boost from developers and phone users alike, but the future is bright for this online store.
Nokia's Ovi Store is the only in this list we have serious doubts about. At launch, Nokia announced a huge 20,000 "items" in store, but this number included thousands of wallpapers, ringtones and phone themes, whittling the actual number of useful apps down significantly. The other major problem is the cost of apps. Nokia has told us repeatedly that it has no part in the price of apps on the market, but with many apps costing over AU$10, perhaps Nokia needs to be more proactive in suggesting developers don't overestimate the value of the software they have built.
Because apps is a major consideration we've decided to award five points to the iPhone, three points to the Hero and two points to the N97 to reflect the value of each of these stores. The Samsung HD Icon misses out here. Although it runs on Nokia's Symbian platform it doesn't have access to the Ovi Store, or to any online applications marketplace.
Web browsing
Some people will consider web browsing to be as important as making phone calls these days. While the web pages you look at might be the same from browser to browser, the performance of these browsers can differ significantly. The iPhone's Safari browser stands head and shoulders above most other smartphones, its multi-touch zoom and the speed of web page rendering make it our pick for the best of the browsers. Similarly good is the Webkit browser pre-installed on Google Android phones. On the Hero you get multi-touch for zooming in and out, and it features similarly excellent page rendering performance. We're awarding both the iPhone and the Hero one point.
Social networking
Social networking, specifically Twitter and Facebook, is the new must-have applications on smartphones. All four phones in the showdown support social networking to some extent; the iPhone has dozens of apps for both Twitter and Facebook to download from the App Store, and the HD Icon features a web link widget to Facebook. But the HTC Hero and Nokia N97 feature live updating home screen widgets, giving you instant access to the information you want. We're awarding one point each to the Hero and N97.
Business productivity
As important as social networking is to some users, the ability to connect to a business email server and sync your mail, contacts and calendar entries will be a major factor for other users. In this regard, all four phones are equally capable, making use of a variety of first-party and third-party solutions. The only factor that may sway the opinion of a business user is the full QWERTY keyboard on the N97, giving it the edge over the other full touch-input handsets. We give the N97 a point for having its nose out in front for business users.
And the winner is...
After tallying up the results, the winner of this round of touchscreen showdown goes to the Samsung HD Icon.
By our count the HD Icon wins with 18 points, while the N97 fell just short on 17 points and the iPhone and Hero trailed behind with 15 points each.
The deciding factor was multimedia support, with the HD Icon picking up a bulk of its points for its excellent multimedia support and its media sharing capabilities. It did, however, lag way behind in the third round with poor web and social networking, and with the points being as close as they were, it could have easily lost out had we weighted this section differently.
We have a feeling that many people will have strong feelings about this result. If you do, drop us a comment in the section below and tell us why you think one of the other smartphones should have come out on top.